The extent of lobbying conducted by Shell and Rio Tinto in seeking legal support from the UK government to dismiss allegations of human rights abuses has been revealed in internal memorandums released by the Foreign Office (pdf).

The documents, obtained by the Corporate Responsibility Coalition (Core) and Amnesty International, show the closeness of the relationship between the multinational corporations and UK government departments.

They also show that UK government officials were privately worried about being seen to be promoting business interests over ethical trading principles.

I am a journalist and author. I am a staff writer at the UK edition of WIRED magazine and in 2015 my book, Freedom of Information: A Practical Guide for UK Journalists, was published. I created FOI Directory in 2012.